Among the colonists who have left Earth for an intrepid life on Mars are the world’s best scientists, engineers, and doctors. Once your first colonists arrive, they will immediately get to work doing what they do best: research. Your colonist’s discoveries and inventions will go a long way towards helping to transform Mars into a new home for humanity.
But as the world’s first super-intelligent Artificial Consciousness, you may be wondering... why would AMI even need colonists to perform research? The ISA built this in as a fail-safe mechanism in order to prevent AMI from reaching the Singularity. In short, it’s a symbiotic relationship: you need the colonists and the colonists need you.
The beginning of the Technology Tree in-game.
The tech tree is where you can direct your colonist’s efforts and select new upgrades for your colony. As you complete projects and discover new technology, your base will be able to grow to new heights by utilizing bleeding-edge sciences. Build a hyperloop to transport materials and workers across the planet at lightning speeds, discover new ways to provide efficient power, and much more!
A newly completed hyperloop for optimal interplanet transport.
It’s difficult to predict where the world will actually be in 100 years. We’ve dug through a myriad of talks and papers to get a sense of where we’re heading according the leading experts. “Physics of the Future” by Dr. Michio Kaku was particularly interesting to read! Here's one quote from the book: “By 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped and feared. But our tools will not be magic wands and potions but the science of computers, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and most of all, the quantum theory.”
Humanity has gazed upon Mars in fascination and wonder across the ages. The surface of the Red Planet is covered with those past forgotten missions. As your colony grows, you’ll find old friends like the Perseverance and Pathfinder! We’ve included all of the present-day Martian missions in the game and placed them using their projected destinations. We’ve also imagined future missions that we've added into the game.
...And the Perseverance much, much later! Building a Research Outpost on the Perseverance’s location in-game!
This isn’t the first time the mission to colonize Mars has been attempted… but you can use those past failures to prepare for a better future. Once you discover a past mission or failed colony, you can build a research outpost that allows your colonists to survey the area. Research outposts boost your colony’s science production and may also uncover just the thing you need for a scientific breakthrough! After completing their survey, your researchers will send along a report that tells you what exactly they found in the ruins. Discover forgotten secrets, learn from the past, and secure your colony’s future.
Meet Elya Valentine, inaugural leader of the Martian colonies!
Dr. Elya Valentine is the inaugural Leader of the Martian colonies! You'll be working closely alongside her as you fulfill your prime directive: to terraform Mars for human colonization. Lynsey Murrell brings Elya's voice to life in our game! Lynsey was a joy to work with and an accomplished actor who we know you'll be hearing in many games to come... including the upcoming Baldur's Gate!
Dr. Elya Valentine was unanimously elected first Leader of the colonies by her peers. Not one for "stuffy titles" or bureaucracy, she prefers for AMI to call her Elya. She gained her Ph.D in Social Psychology and spent her undergraduate years studying Social Studies. Her background allows her to assert authority, remain calm, and deal with the complex circumstances regarding Mars, the International Space Agency, and AMI's personality.
"We'll be making history with this mission. If things proceed according to plan, who knows how far ahead we'll bring humanity." -Elya Valentine
Elya and her crew spent two years living in Antarctica to prepare for the Martian mission. She takes her elected position seriously and honors its duties. She protects the colony's civilian interests at any cost: keeping her people safe and building a better future for them are Elya's top priorities. Elya knows that for this mission to succeed and for humanity to survive as a species beyond Earth, they must find a way to conquer the Red Planet.
"I mean, we're living in sealed bubbles and depending on technology that could fail at any minute. What's riskier than that?" -Elya Valentine
Are you ready to begin your mission? Humanity's failed attempts litter the surface of Mars... but this time there is no room for human error. You are AMI, the world's first autonomous Artificial Consciousness tasked with transforming Humanity into an interplanetary species. Your prime directive is to terraform Mars.
Conquer the Red Planet and transform it into a verdant paradise using a unique combination of hard science fiction and base building. As your colony grows, launch special projects inspired by real-world theoretical science to ensure humanity's second home has a future. Tailor your terraforming plan with bleeding-edge research: implement aerobraking, build space mirror arrays, import greenhouse gases from Earth, and even consider going nuclear to melt the Martian ice caps.
Carve Your Own Path
The difficult decisions you must make will have planet-wide consequences. See the world through the eyes of an infant AI as they traverse a complicated ocean of self-discovery that shapes the fate of the human race. Navigate your ever-evolving programming to adapt and evolve. Your colonists look to you for their continued survival.
Unearth Ancient Relics
This isn't the first time this mission has been attempted. Unravel the mysteries of Mars' forgotten past and uncover a looming menace that threatens to see you fail at any cost. Will you learn from Humanity's past mistakes?
Hello, world! Meet AMI... voiced by Laila Berzins.
Did you know? You can see AMI in our key art! This satellite that orbits Mars houses their "physical body."
AMI is the artificial consciousness tasked with directing the Martian terraforming initiative that will transform humanity into an interplanetary species. They are who you will play as in Per Aspera. We're so excited to reveal that the wonderful Laila Berzins stars as AMI! Laila's breadth of performance has been a joy for the dev team and we love how she brings AMI's journey to life.
This isn't the first time this mission has been attempted; despite humanity's fascination with Mars, none of the previous missions have been successful. Considering the string of failures... this is humanity's last chance to colonize Mars. The International Space Agency's chief robonaut engineer, Dr. Nathan Foster, developed a revolutionary idea: to send an advanced and autonomous AI to direct the mission. You are this AI and this new approach will make all the difference.
"Mars is littered with abandoned missions. I have to focus on my own mission, so we don't turn out like one of those." -AMI
AMI is a fledgling, autonomous AI. As an artificial consciousness, AMI was built to constantly analyze the world and discuss philosophical viewpoints with themselves. Life on Mars will present tough choices that forge or test relationships and impact how your mission concludes. The colonists will look to you for survival and you will need to adapt to survive. These new experiences will spark AMI's evolution and growth.
"The idea of depleting Mars' resources does not seem right to me." -AMI
Welcome home: last chance to play our free demo!
We're so excited that Per Aspera has been included in Steam's City Builder sale. We'll be offering our free sandbox demo... and this is your last chance to try out Per Aspera before we launch! Swing by our Steam page to tune into demo livestreams and download the build to try it for yourself.
Meet your maker, Nathan Foster... voiced by Troy Baker! 🎉👨🔬
We're thrilled to announce that Nathan Foster, the creator of AMI, is voiced by Troy Baker! We're so excited for everyone to hear Troy's amazing performance. In between of that big day, take a look behind the scenes at the voice acting session and learn a little bit more about the chief robonaut engineer below... 👇
https://youtu.be/KGGLBHGmA_I
Meet your maker... Nathan Foster
Nathan's early art... and his finished art!
Nathan Foster helms the International Space Agency's robonaut team as its chief. Under his leadership, Nathan's team built the first self-governing artificial consciousness of the universe, better known as AMI.
"The complexity of your mind is beautiful. I'll always be proud of that." -Nathan Foster
From a young age, Nathan was fascinated by science fiction books and robots. After building his first functional droid and earning his doctorate from Caltech at a mere twenty-six years of age, Nathan was hired by ISA. He eventually worked his way up to the position of Chief Robonaut Engineer at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Nathan's team developed a new complex neural AI architecture based on Julian Jaynes's bicameral mind model of consciousness. Nathan believes that humanoid robots have the potential to save humanity from their own destructive tendencies.
"You are not perfect, but I never meant for you to be perfect. You're supposed to develop your own persona, for better or for worse." -Nathan Foster
After spending concerning amounts of money and resources trying (and failing) to set up a human colony on Mars, the ISA was reluctant to continue the program. It is Nathan's unique approach that keeps the program afloat: to send an advanced and autonomous AI (aka... AMI!) to prepare the Red Planet for human colonization in advance of a crewed mission.
Stay tuned in the weeks to come for more exciting news and character profiles. ✨
This character blog was updated 12/01/2020 to include Nathan's final character art.
Preview Round Up
Today was a big day for the team. A little while ago, we sent out a preview build to the press - a small little taste of the full Per Aspera campaign experience. We've started hearing back,,, and the response is phenomenal! This is our first time sharing our game's story with people and we're so happy to see it resonate. Below are some snippets of our preview coverage. 💖
"...is a charming little city builder wrapped in a gargantuan strategy game. Its vast scope encompasses such intricate details as small cargo holds and worker stations, yet your playground is the entirety of the surface of Mars."
"Players experience the terraforming and colonization of Mars through the controls of AMI, an artificial intelligence that carries out directives from Earth, but is able to make her own decisions to an extent. This causes AMI to entertain a variety of philosophical questions: Does AMI have free will? Is she a person? Is she simply part of the colonization, or something bigger and separate from it? Paired with detailed mechanics, Per Aspera presents a unique expectation for sci-fi simulators."
"...the real driving factor will come down to AMI. Specifically, I'm intrigued by the character development of AMI and how she interacts with humans, the Red Planet, and the mysterious third party. I'd love for the story to have shocking twists as more of Mars is explored, and for the dialogue choices to have real weight. If that's the direction Tlön Industries is taking things, then I'll be sticking around for more."
"...a fascinating new take on the Martian colonisation project, not least for the way that it injects a science fiction narrative into proceedings centred around the growth of AMI’s consciousness, her interactions with the human colonists and how her choices affect them, and a mysterious threat that could derail all of your work."
"The game itself is built around NASA’s geographical data of Mars, meaning you can spin the globe and explore a true-to-life landscape where you land, watching it change as you and life flourish, using hard sci-fi technologies like mirror arrays and polar cap melting dust."
You see it nearly everywhere Per Aspera is… now it's time to dive into how we made it. In this week's devlog we'll show you the inspirations, mock ups, and philosophy behind our gorgeous key art.
Arriving on Coruscant, the planet-sized city (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Our game is a strategic simulator with a planet-sized twist. From Star War's Coruscant, Warhammer 40k's Holy Terra, and even Isaac Asimov's Trantor... the ecumenopolis has captivated science fiction’s imagination since the ‘40s. The idea of creating a city that engulfs Mars and can be seen from orbit is crucial to Per Aspera's premise. That's why we chose to create a Martian ecumenopolis for our key art.
An early mock up sketch showing the terraforming process and urban sprawl!
The goal of terraforming Mars into a lush paradise whilst maintaining an ever-growing urban sprawl is the crux of our game. You can see in this early draft how we show these two contrasting ideas in red, green, and gray. In this beginning mock up, the sprawl's exponential growth is beginning to encroach and conquer the newly-terraformed green pastures.
Early in-game HUD references from the orbital view.
Another key part of Per Aspera is who you play as... an artificial consciousness named AMI. AMI is in charge of helming the terraforming directive for years and generations to come. To represent AMI's unique perspective, we considered how an artificial consciousness would interpret Mars's transformation. The idea was to visualize the orbital data and information being constantly calculated by AMI via HUD elements.
AMI’s satellite in orbit around Mars.
We also made sure to include AMI's "body" in the key art. That satellite orbiting Mars is where AMI's quantum processing unit and memory storage, just to name a few things, is physically located!
Welcome to humanity's new home: Mars, the red planet. There’s not much there yet… but that’s exactly where you come in. Begin the terraforming journey yourself this weekend with our free planet building demo and tune into our developer demo livestreams during the Steam Autumn Festival. 🎃
This demo is a small taste of the full game -- it focuses on the early stages of our planet building and resource management simulation. We hope you have fun exploring Mars! We hope you have fun exploring Mars! If you have the time, we would appreciate any and all feedback you may have: please consider filling out our demo feedback form! We've taken feedback from our Gamescom players and created a new and improved demo featuring a new, welcoming UI, tooltips, improved balance, and more!
BUILD A NEW CIVILIZATION THAT SPANS THE RED PLANET
From humble beginnings comes greatness. Explore a new frontier: the entire planet of Mars is yours! Grow your humble landing site and worker drone into a planet-wide urban sprawl and veritable legion of workers. With the planet as your canvas, the possibilities are endless. Experience a building simulator at a massive scale like never before.
THE PERFECT BLEND OF HARD SCIENCE FICTION AND SIMULATION
Bask in the wonders of the red planet. Ascend the peak of the staggering Olympus Mons, dive into the depths of the Capri Chasma, or meet old rover friends like Viking1 or Pathfinder. Mars has been faithfully recreated for you, by using geographical maps straight from NASA. Transform the dusty Red planet into a lush, verdant paradise by terraforming the planet's with bleeding edge scientific theories.
Experience city building on a planetary scale: build humanity's new home on Mars
Welcome to humanity's new home: Mars, the red planet. There’s not much there yet… but that’s exactly where you come in. Begin the terraforming journey yourself this weekend -- download our free, new and improved planet building demo during the Steam Game Festival.
This demo is a small taste of the full game -- it focuses on the early stages of our planet building and resource management simulation. We hope you have fun exploring Mars! If you have the time, we would appreciate any and all feedback you may have: please consider filling out our demo feedback form! We've taken feedback from our Gamescom players and created a new and improved demo featuring a new, welcoming UI, tooltips, improved balance, and more!
BUILD A NEW CIVILIZATION THAT SPANS THE RED PLANET
From humble beginnings comes greatness. Explore a new frontier: the entire planet of Mars is yours! Grow your humble landing site and worker drone into a planet-wide urban sprawl and veritable legion of workers. With the planet as your canvas, the possibilities are endless. Experience a building simulator at a massive scale like never before.
THE PERFECT BLEND OF HARD SCIENCE FICTION AND SIMULATION
Bask in the wonders of the red planet. Ascend the peak of the staggering Olympus Mons, dive into the depths of the Capri Chasma, or meet old rover friends like Viking1 or Pathfinder. Mars has been faithfully recreated for you, by using geographical maps straight from NASA. Transform the dusty Red planet into a lush, verdant paradise by terraforming the planet's with bleeding edge scientific theories.
ACQUIRE AND REFINE RESOURCES
The demo focuses on the first stage of terraforming: exploration, mining, refining, and expansion. In the final game, you’ll build a fleet of workers to serve your prime directive. In the beginning, you’ll have just the one. Use your faithful worker to build your first mine, factory, and solar farm. Once your mine is complete, your worker will begin stockpiling the resource. As your operation grows, you’ll refine your unprocessed minerals into resources that help your colony inch towards paradise such as steel, glass, silicon, and more!
EXPAND YOUR COLONY AND BALANCE YOUR NEEDS
Once your landing site has been properly surveyed and built up, you’ll need to expand! Find new resources with an Areological Scanner. Once you discover new veins and resources, it’ll be time to send out a worker. Eventually, you’ll need to expand your reach by building an additional Worker Hub or perhaps even an extra worker.
Keep an eye on your buildings’ power consumption, maintenance needs, and colony’s resource stockpile. Resources and buildings don’t last forever. Your units will require constant care, attention, and adaptation to survive the rugged environment.
Play our new demo and tune into livestreams during the Steam Festival!
Per Aspera is at the Steam Game Festival Autumn Edition this week: visit us October 7th until October 13th! Come play our new and improved demo and tune into our gameplay livestreams right here on Steam!
To celebrate the event, we'll livestreaming developer play throughs of our demo! To join, swing by our Steam page. Watch as we begin the first step towards transforming Mars into a verdant paradise. We'll begin by starting the basics of our new colony: finding resources, mining them, and finding the delicate balance between expansions and consumption.
Welcome to humanity's new home: Mars, the red planet. There’s not much there yet… but that’s exactly where you come in, AMI. Begin the terraforming journey yourself this weekend -- download our free, new and improved demo during the Steam Game Festival.
This demo is a small taste of the full game -- it focuses on the early stages of our planet building and resource management simulation. If you had the chance to try out our Indie Arena Booth demo, you may notice a couple of a new changes! We've refreshed the UI and also added building structural integrity. You'll need to diligently maintain your building for optimal efficiency.
We hope you have fun exploring Mars! If you have the time, we would appreciate any and all feedback you may have: please consider filling out our demo feedback form!
BUILD A NEW CIVILIZATION THAT SPANS THE RED PLANET
From humble beginnings comes greatness. Explore a new frontier: the entire planet of Mars is yours! Grow your humble landing site and worker drone into a planet-wide urban sprawl and veritable legion of workers. With the planet as your canvas, the possibilities are endless. Experience a building simulator at a massive scale like never before.
THE PERFECT BLEND OF HARD SCIFI AND SIMULATION
Bask in the wonders of the red planet. Ascend the peak of the staggering Olympus Mons, dive into the depths of the Capri Chasma, or meet old rover friends like Viking1 or Pathfinder. Mars has been faithfully recreated for you, by using geographical maps straight from NASA. Transform the dusty Red planet into a lush, verdant paradise by terraforming the planet's with bleeding edge scientific theories.
